Van der Zande: CTMP “Most Bizarre and Amazing” Track

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Renger van der Zande has described Canadian Tire Motorsport Park as both “bizarre” and “amazing” of a track where the “whole package needs to fit” in order to be successful at.

The Chip Ganassi Racing driver and teammate Sebastien Bourdais head into Sunday’s Chevrolet Grand Prix as defending race winners, although face a new challenge in coming to grips with the 2.459-mile circuit in their Cadillac V-Series.R LMDh car for the first time.

Van der Zande and Bourdais, who have one win on the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, sit a distant fourth in the GTP class title race following mixed fortunes so far this year that they hope to set right this weekend.

“Mosport is one of the most bizarre and amazing tracks in the world, not only the IMSA calendar,” van der Zande said.

“My memories there have always been very nice. Last year was the first time that I won there, but I’ve been trying really hard.

“And if you want to win there you have to try really hard because it’s one of those tracks where at home here I tell how bizarre it is, how fast you go there, how much risk you take, how blind the corners are and at the same time very fast.

“Also, the traffic is not easy at all. Plus, you need a very fast car. If you don’t have a fast car on the back straight, you can have a fast car in the corners but you’re not going to win the race.

“The whole package needs to fit. It’s actually one of those tracks where it’s more interesting from an engineering perspective than you think when you look at it.

“When you look at the track layout, it’s all about the high speed, but it’s also about top speed at that track.”

Van der Zande recalled last year’s event, which saw the No. 01 team rebound from a power steering issue.

“Last year it was even more unlikely to win it because Sebastien came in after one stint and the power steering was locking and it was locking to where he said, ‘Hey, I don’t want to drive anymore,’ and I said let’s give it a go and let’s try anyway,” the Dutchman said.

“At that point, I started using some strength that I’ve never known from before and we made it through to the end, and at the end I even had a shot at finding my way past some cars, which was quote bizarre. And we won the race.

“It’s a great memory. I would say it was one of the most special wins for me because of that reason. And Mosport is a special track unto itself.”

Van der Zande said he and Bourdais are looking for a “clean race” this weekend to help put their championship fight back on target.

“I think we’ve been in the corner where we’ve made a lot of mistakes from all kinds of areas,” he said. “When we get that out of the way… and honestly I feel like we’ve been very unlucky here and there being in the wrong moment in the wrong spot.

“I think we’re going to Mosport wanting to do a clean race. Maybe that means not fighting for that last bit like last year for the win, but if the opportunity is there for sure I will go for it anyway.

“In principle, we need to start doing clean races and then we’ll grab the opportunity if it’s in front of us. Otherwise, we should be happy with a decent result and a clean race.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John